Story Highlights

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – There was no sense of celebration in the Yankees' clubhouse on Sunday, only a sense of having avoided the absolute worst.

The 4-2 win over the Rays was the Yankees' highest-scoring game in more than a week. Their offense was not transformed overnight, and they're still looking up in both the wild-card and division standings. But they've won two in a row and have at least some reason to believe they could get on a roll in these last 40 games.

"It's better than losing your last seven or whatever it would've been," left fielder Brett Gardner said. " … We're not where we would like to be, but we're not far away either. A good week and things can turn around in a hurry."

The Yankees had lost five in a row before sneaking narrow wins Saturday and Sunday. They've jumped ahead of Toronto but remain seven games behind Baltimore in the American League East, and they're 3-1/2 games behind Seattle for the second wild card.

"It's better than it looked as of Friday night at 10:30, that's for sure," manager Joe Girardi said. "We were able to win (the series), so hopefully this carries over and we can go on another good roll when we go back home."

Still waiting for a big winning streak, the Yankees settled for minor victories. Four runs were the most they'd scored since a 10-run outburst on Aug. 8. Their infield defense was once again impressive — Martin Prado was particularly sharp at second base — and extra days of rest seemed to help Hiroki Kuroda look sharp after a rough one his last time out.

"When he's got his stuff darting like that, to both sides of the plate, he's tough to beat," catcher Brian McCann said, having returned from a concussion.

For a while, this looked like another disappointment. Kuroda allowed a run in the first inning, then the Yankees went 4-2/3 innings without a hit. The situation was pretty bleak until Stephen Drew took a two-out walk and Prado followed with a sharp double in the top of the fifth.

It was the Yankees' first real opportunity, and they took advantage of it. Gardner singled in two runs. Derek Jeter singled to put runners at the corners. Jacoby Ellsbury singled for the first time on this road trip, snapping a personal 0-for-17 and giving the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

Kuroda allowed just one more run the rest of the way — he retired 17 in a row at one point — Mark Teixeira hit his 20th home run of the year, and David Robertson finished off his 21st consecutive save.

"It's better when you win," Teixeira said. "It's a good bounce-back week. We hadn't played well the first few games of the road trip, so it's really good bouncing back the way we did the last two games."

Without a golden road trip, the Yankees settled for a silver lining.

Yankee clippings: Masahiro Tanaka played catch and reported no problems one day after throwing a 25-pitch bullpen session, his most significant step back from a slightly torn elbow ligament. Tanaka is scheduled to throw another bullpen next week, which will be his first time throwing breaking pitches off a mound. … McCann was activated from the seven-day concussion disabled list. Catcher Austin Romine was optioned back to Triple-A. … The Yankees have an off day Monday before beginning a homestand Tuesday against Houston.

Twitter: @LohudYankees

By the numbers40

Games left in the regular season for the Yankees. They're seven games behind Baltimore in the AL East and 3 1/2 games behind Seattle for the second wild card.

17

Jacoby Ellsbury broke an 0-for-17 slump with an RBI single in the fifth inning that gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead, and Hiroki Kuroda retired 17 batters in a row at one point.

Yankees Blog

Chad Jennings keeps you up to date on the Yankees with The LoHud Yankees Blog at yankees.lhblogs.com